Chelsea welcome Middlesbrough as they close in on title

Before Middlesbrough's last game most people would have gave them little chance against the Champions-elect, Chelsea. Truth be told, we are still giving them very little chance, but there is hope.

The North East side, who will surely be playing in the second-tier next season, got a 2-2 draw against Manchester City and proved that they still have a little bit of fight left in them in their last outing. However, as this season has already shown, Chelsea are a different outfit to every other side in the division - that is why they are sitting atop of the pile waiting to pick up the trophy.

Still, if you think Boro can get a point off the Blues, you can back a draw at a price of 6/1. If you want to go one step further, you can back them to win at a price 16/1... or you can just go throw your money down the toilet, because it will lead to a similar outcome.

The obvious result is a Chelsea win, but this is virtually unbackable at a price of 1/6. The Blues swept aside Everton in their last fixture and we envisage them making similarly short work of Middlesbrough in this tie.

Pedro opened the scoring in that game with an absolutely stunning finish. The Spanish midfielder is priced at 4/1 to score the first goal again, while another scorer from the last fixture, Willian, is 5/1 to get the opener.

If you want to back a Middlesbrough player to get the first, the Alvaro Negredo is probably the pick of the bunch. He scored against his old team in Boro's game against Manchester City and is priced at 12/1 to rattle the net first here.

Former Chelsea hopeful, Patrick Bamford, is priced at 16/1 to get the first goal but the so-called striker hasn't exactly been prolific throughout his Premier League. Rudy Gestede is another player Boro will be hoping performs. The former Aston Villa player is 14/1 to get the first goal on the day.

For us, the best value doesn't lie in the 'will Chelsea win' question, but 'how will they win.' The Blues to be winning at half-time and full-time at a price of 8/15 looks like an interesting bet for big spenders, while a draw at half-time and Chelsea to win at full-time at a price of 11/4 could give great returns.

This is the bet we are going to stick with, as we fancy the underdog's fight to die out early in the second-half.